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Double world record holder Lornah Kiplagat and her cousin Hilda Kibet plan to compete at the 2008 Utrecht Night of the 10,000m in the Netherlands on 30-May so they can qualify for the Beijing Olympics, event organizers announced yesterday.
Both Kiplagat, who holds the IAAF world records for both 20 km and the half-marathon, and Kibet need to run 31:22.00 or better in order to qualify for the Dutch Olympic team for Beijing, much faster than the IAAF Olympic Games "A" standard of 31:45.00. Both athletes had hoped to achieve the Dutch federation standard at the European Cup 10,000m in Istanbul last April, but fell short. Kiplagat finished second in 31:53.72 and Kibet third in a personal best 32:05.49.
Event director Arjan Pathmamanoharan confirmed that several other athletes with Olympic Games aspirations had committed to the competition. These include Belgium's Nathalie de Vos, Great Britain's Hayley Yelling, Zimbabwe's Sharon Tavengwa, Switzerland's Deborah Büttel and the Netherlands' Ilse Pol and Saskia van Vugt.
Pathmamanoharan is looking to add more athletes to this event. Qualified athletes or their representatives can contact him at a_patje@hotmail.com or +31-6-27061421 for more information.